Josephine Durnell Finds Comfort from Racism Through the Church

By Bre Foley

For Josephine Durnell, the church
community provided refuge while growing up in Louisiana. Durnell was born in
Freeport, Louisiana, in an all-black neighboring community in the 1940’s.
During this time of segregation, she and her family found that church
involvement helped them cope with the difficult times they faced.

“I’ve always been very involved in
the church community since I was young,” Durnell said. “My parents and I did
Sunday school and I went to Christian camps every summer.”

Even when Durnell moved from
Louisiana to Minneapolis to attend college, she still managed to attend church
every Sunday. She attended a Lutheran school known as Augsburg College, which
offered services. The time she spent in the school chapel helped her feel more
a part of a campus where she was the only African-American student. Durnell said throughout her four years at Augsburg, she had to work much harder than
the other students to prove herself.

“It was hard being the only black
student…I had to study hard and competitively against the other students.” said Durnell.

After college, Durnell moved in
1967 from Minnesota to Massachusetts with her husband whom was also from
Louisiana. There, she began teaching in South Boston while her husband remained
in the service. She stayed involved with the different Baptist churches in
Boston until she moved to Brockton and joined the Messiah Baptist Church. She
has been a member there for the past 25 years, and is involved in their
volunteer programs, such as Sunday school. Although she found comfort and
guidance against discrimination within her church community, Durnell says she
still sees racism today.

“Brockton is definitely racist…more racist than
Minnesota” she said. “[The Church] makes me feel like we’re fighting
against racism,” she said. “The outside community may be racist, but [Messiah
Baptist] fights for community action and equality.”

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About This Project

This project on the Great Migration to Brockton is the work of students in the Advanced Newswriting and Reporting course taught by Prof. Maureen Boyle at Stonehill College, Easton, Massachusetts. For the project, students interviewed members of Messiah Baptist Church in Brockton, Massachusetts, one of the oldest African American churches in that city.

Videos

Visit our YouTube channel, Brockton Great Migration, for all interviews related to this project